February 2011

February 28, 2011

Hall of Fame centerfielder Duke Snider died yesterday at the age of 84. His glory days were with the Brooklyn Dodgers who left that borough of New York City to become the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1957 season. There are many on-line sites that can provide his career stats, etc., to those interested. Wonder if the Dodgers will wear a patch on their uniforms this year in honor of the Duke. I've always been a Yankee fan and my best friend Larry was - correction - still is a Dodger fan. He still bleeds "Dodger Blue".

I don't recall having any friends back then who rooted for the Giants. I found out much later that my wife's parents were big fans of the Giants. Many New York baseball fans in the 50's used to argue about who was the best centerfielder in New York, Willie, Mickey or the Duke. That rivalry was commemorated in song by Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball" in 1981. It was originally titled "Willie, Mickey and the Duke". Mickey passed over 15 years ago at 63 so now only Willie remains and he will be 80 on May 6th. Yogi Berra will turn 86 less than a week later on May 12th and Hall of Fame batterymate Whitey Ford celebrated his 82nd birthday last October 21st.

The first major league baseball game I ever attended was in 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn so I did get to see the Duke play in person. I was 10 when I went with the cub scouts to a Dodgers - Cardinals game won by the Dodgers 12 - 4. The next year I saw my first Yankee game and also a Giants game at the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan. The Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 17 - 3. As a Mantle fan, I enjoyed seeing the great Willie Mays actually drop a fly ball in centerfield, attempting to make his patented "basket" catch. I have to admit though that the answer to the question who was the best of these three Hall of Fame centerfielders was clearly Willie with Mickey second.

The 2011 baseball exhibition season is underway. Fantasy baseball fans are probably paying close attention. I'm sure they all know by now that Cardinal's ace, Adam Wainwright is out for the season and will require Tommy John surgery on his elbow. I never could get excited about exhibition games. Maybe I'll watch an inning or two occasionally. That all changes March 31st when the Yankees open the regular season at home to the Detroit Tigers. I'll be watching almost all the games from my living room on Direct TV. Sports Illustrated picked the Yanks to finish 2nd to the Boston Red Sox. Larry's Dodgers were picked 4th in the NL West. Here's hoping that SI is wrong on both picks and that the Dodgers under rookie manager and former Yankee great Don Mattingly meet the Yankees in the 2011 World Series.

Anyone who was a Dodger fan in the 50's would probably enjoy reading "The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn and "Wait Till Next Year" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

February 21, 2011

"Things I Didn't Know I Knew" is the title of a Georgia Middleman album I purchased at the end of her show with Gary Burr, Lari White and Chuck Cannon at the Bluebird Cafe the beginning of December. My wife (very smart woman) suggested that I buy the cd. On the drive home she said I didn't have enough stuff to go under the Christmas tree so she wrapped it up and I didn't get to hear it til after the holidays. It was worth the wait. The album was released in 2008 on Middle Sister Records. It's Georgia's 3rd album and she co-wrote all the tracks. Her first two albums are "Endless Possibilities" released in 2001 and "Unchanged" in 2004, the last I just purchased on i-Tunes.

Although she is known as a country singer/songwriter (my post of October 17th, Georgia's Table, mentions the songs she's best known for as a writer), "Things ..." is described on her website as a jazz and pop-inspired collection of songs. When I loaded the cd into my MacBook's i-Tunes, the genre shown was country. Maybe they were fooled by Georgia's bio or by the fact that track 2 was recorded by Reba. There are no steel guitars or banjos here. In addition to piano and guitars, we have drums, sax, harmonica, clarinet, violin (not a fiddle) and viola. Whatever the genre, this is one teriffic album. Usually when I buy a new cd, after a few plays there are a few songs that get played a lot more than the rest. There are no songs here I care to skip over.

The only reviews I found on-line were on Amazon and similar sites. I guess I didn't really expect to see any reviews from country websites or blogs. If there were any reviews by pop or jazz sites, I failed to find them. The cd did not include lyrics and I haven't been able to find many of them on-line so I have provided a sampling here and there. Here are the tracks:

"Things I Didn't Know I Knew" - kind of a torchy ballad with lines like, "the mysteries of the universe unlocked when I touched you, things I didn't know I knew" and "the depth of my desire when you cry out my name". (co-writers - Gene Nelson & Pat Bunch)

"I'll Have What She's Having" - the Reba cut is a fun, western swing tune with a great chorus. You can google the lyrics on-line and save me a few keystrokes. I like the line at the end, "I know it's wrong to covet, but why should she have all of it". (co-writer - Jimmy Melton)

"Stay In Touch" - a girl's having marital problems and asks mom for advice. "Mama said you've got to stay in touch"... "Your father lets me know every single day, that I'm always on his mind, a kiss, a nudge, a wink, a simple hug, it's the little things that keep love alive". (co-writer - James "In My Daughter's Eyes" Slater)

"Death by Perfection" - A song of the day (8/11/09) article by David Browne about co-writer Maia Sharp on npr.org said it was about older women succumbing to plastic surgery. When I listen to the song again it makes sense. "they took something beautiful, straightened the curves, filled in the cracks, 'til it was unrecognizable". Complete lyrics can be found on-line.

"That's What I'm Talking About" - another torchy ballad begins with the line "I'm like a piano, at your command, I hum with the music you make with your hands, oh baby, that's what I'm talkin about" and continues "I love how you linger with your fingertips, tasting and tracing the shape of my lips, oh baby, ... (co-writer - Jim Photoglo)

"The Best Thing" - a baby, the song's over a minute when you find out what's taken over her life - "you're just 7 lbs 9 ounces of kickin' screamin' love" and "the best thing that ever happened to me". How true. (co-writer - Marty Dodson)

"I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself" - begins "I bit my lip, spilled my drink, saw but couldn't believe" as she sees a good looking guy giving her the eye. To every suggestion he makes, she says "I couldn't have said it better myself". "The room felt crowded, I needed air, he must have been needing it too, cause he leaned over and into my ear said, it's hot, how about you, whaddya say we take this little party somewhere else, I just smiled and said, I couldn't have said it better myself". (co-writer - Jonathan Kingham)

"Two People In Love" - she's looking at a couple "too busy wrapped up in each other, they must believe in forever, that's something that the world needs more of, two people in love" ... "just like us". (co-writer - Kevin Fisher)

"I'll Take What I Can Get" - She can't get enough of her man, but if tonight is all that they have left, she'll take what she can get. (co-writer - Chad Hudson)

"Gypsy When She Dreams" - "she used to be a singer in a band that had a deal, but they never really got a chance to shine". Now "she's an ordinary housewife but she's a gypsy when she dreams" (co-writer - Bill DeMain)

"Let's Do This Again Sometime" - a dreamy reflection on a romantic evening, "never want this mornin' afterglow to end" and "I can't wait for the next time you make me feel this way". (co-writer - Gene Nelson)

February 09, 2011

About a week ago there was a review that got my attention on one of the country blogs about a Grammy nominated song from Gretchen "Red Neck Woman" Wilson. It wasn't so much the song itself, "I'd Love to Be Your Last". I have it already by Clay Walker and I think it's a real good song. Two people who have had other loves that didn't go well are brought together by their mistakes. Rather than dwelling on the past, they're happy that they finally got it right. Their attitude is "I don't care if I'm your first love, but I'd love to be your last".

What got my attention was the names of the songwriters, Sam & Annie Tate and Rivers Rutherford. I just saw Rivers a week ago last Saturday night at a Bluebird Cafe show with Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman and Jim Photoglo. He was great but my focus here is on the other two. I've been seeing their names on quite a few songs that I really like. There are many songwriters in Nashville who work frequently with one or two other writers on a regular basis but not many songwriting teams in which the partner is a spouse. When the subject of husband and wife songwriting teams comes up in country music, my guess is that the first names thought of would be Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, most famous for the songs they wrote for the Everly Brothers many years ago. Of the current crop of country music songwriters, the husband and wife team, Kathleen Ann Wright, aka Annie Tate, and Sam Tate may be the best of a small group. The Tates have been partners in music and life now for 18 years. The only other significant husband and wife songwriting team I can think of is Aimee Mayo and Chris Lindsey who wrote Lonestar's "Amazed" with Marv Green.

The Tates do not have their own website. Their bio on the Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company website describes them as one of the few successful husband and wife songwriting teams in Nashville. They have been awarded seven gold records and four platinum records as well as many SESAC performance awards, including SESAC Songwriters of the Year in 2006. They have also received two prestigious Nashville Songwriters' Association Creativity Awards. Many of the artists they have written for are mentioned but only a half dozen of their recorded songs are listed below the bio. On the same page, if you click on "Play Songs by Sam & Annie Tate", it takes you to a section with about 40 songs that have not been recorded, some identified as demos. It gives the reader the genre, mood, tempo, etc.

From the Cherry Lane site, you can also click on the Tates MySpace page. The first song you'll find there is "Shut Up and Drive" sung very well by Annie. You won't find much else. You can find almost all the songs they've written on the website for SESAC, their PRO (Performing Rights Organization). You get the names of their co-writers and publisher when you click on a song title, but you do not get the name of the artist. While many times once you know the title, you know the artist, that is not always the case. The Tates wrote a song with Chris Cavanaugh called "Heart Full of Rain". I immediately though of the Collin Raye song but then remembered that Collin's was written by Hugh Prestwood.

While my favorite Tate song is Emerson Drive's "Moments", to me one of the best songs of the first decade of the 21st century, I'm not going to rank the rest of their songs. I'll just group them by co-writer. Here's what I found so far:

The Tates have had a lot of success writing with Dave Berg. They've had three #1 songs, "Moments" by Emerson Drive, "If You're Going Through Hell" by Rodney Atkins and "Somebody" by Reba. "Somebody" was originally recorded by Mark Wills, an album track on his 2001 cd, "Loving Every Minute". A lesser known collaboration with Mr. Berg is Sammy Kershaw's "I Want My Money Back", a top 40 tune from his '03 cd of the same name. It's a funny song about a disappointing concert experience - 16 hour wait on line for tickets, nosebleed seats, etc. - and the value of a higher education that enabled him to "supersize and say 'Do you want fries with that?'". The trio also wrote Emerson Drive's "Lucky Man", an album track from ED's "Countrified" cd.

Rivers Rutherford has also been a frequent co-writer. In addition to "I'd Love to Be Your Last" mentioned above, the three collaborated on Chely Wright's "Shut Up and Drive", from her 1997 album "Let Me In". Although it stalled at #14, it was her break through hit. "Ain't Nobody Gonna Take That From Me" was an album track about memories of a childhood home run, honesty and being a dad on Joe Nichols' "Revelation" cd and Collin Raye's "Can't Back Down" album. Rivers and the Tates also had an album track "For the Money" on Montgomery Gentry's "My Town" cd and "I'm Doing My Best", a post-breakup song on Gary Allan's 2001 "Alright Guy" cd.

Georgia Middleman's work with Team Tate includes "Now That You Met Molly" an album track from Georgia's "Unchanged" cd and, from the same album, "Table 32", a non-charting single for Molly Rees from her self-titled debut album in '05 and Australian Kate Russell from her "Kicking Down the Door" album in '08. The "Molly" song is about a single mom who wonders if the guy she's dating still wants her now that he knows she has a daughter. "Table 32" tells of a waitress serving an older man and a hot young babe. See my post, "Georgia's Table" of October 17th, 2010. Jimmy Ritchie joined Georgia and the Tates on "Don't Ruin It For The Rest of Us", an album track on Joe Nichols' "Real Things" and Mark Chesnutt's "Savin' the Honky Tonk" cds. The guy is ruining it for his pals at the bar by bragging that he fell in love and is getting married while they're doing exciting things like swapping lies and crying in their beers.

Singer/songwriter Chris Knight has also worked with the Tates. They've had three album tracks, Randy Travis' "Highway Junkie" from his cd "Full Circle", Ty Herndon's "Love at 90 Miles An Hour" from "What Mattered Most", his debut album, and "Summer of 75" from Chris's self-titled debut cd.

Kevin Sharp's "Love at the End of the Road", is one of the best songs from Kevin's 1996 debut cd "Measure of a Man" although it wasn't chosen for single release. It was written by the Tates without an outside co-writer. It's a three tale country tune, a guy ending his search by coming back to the girl he left behind, to the old man still running the filling station and to the church and a voice "that would make any sinner believe".

"Thousand Wild Horses", written with Gary Burr, hasn't been recorded. I've heard it sung by Gary a few times at recent Bluebird shows and really liked it. There are currently no lyrics available. The Tate blog on their MySpace talks about a September 2008 performance at Joe's Pub in NYC, about which Annie says "We played with David Lee Murphy ... Played with Bob DiPiero and Gary Burr also. Oh my God what talent was on that stage. I was so humbled. And didn't remember what a FANTASTIC voice Gary has." (Annie's caps, not mine.)

Annie & Sam do occasionally write apart from Team Tate. The most notable example I could find was "Rocks in Your Shoes" by Emily West. Annie wrote the song with Dave Berg and Emily. It peaked at #39 in 2008. Emily's "Blue Sky", which Emily wrote with Gary Burr, didn't fare much better, only making it to #38 in 2010, despite the addition of Keith Urban's harmony vocals to her original version.

I wonder if there are any other husband and wife songwriting teams in country music currently working other than the Tates and Mayo-Lindsey. Maybe there are some who are just starting out. My comments here do not deal with husband and wife teams in which both write songs, but one is primarily a singer. For example, Suzy Bogguss has co-writing credit on 56 songs and husband Doug Crider has written 184 songs, all of which can be found on BMI's website.